this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
Want to accurately grasp a soon-to-graduate college student in the palm of your hand? Just give them an internship certificate.
Xu Yao had the professional massage therapists for the spa leave and called Lu Ye in, asking for his opinion, “Do you think I lack a bit of prestige?”
Seeing that Lu Ye didn’t understand her meaning, Xu Yao added, “Don’t you think I lacked the aura of a rich heiress when I left my number for Li Xiaoli and Zuo Ning today?”
Lu Ye immediately got what Xu Yao meant and bowed, “Yes, Miss Yao Yao, I will arrange for someone to customise some exclusive business cards for you right away.”
Xu Yao nodded in satisfaction; this was something she had thought of on a whim. As a top landlord, not having business cards was indeed inappropriate.
Xu Yao had come to this world to retire and enjoy life, so she went to bed early every night for her health. Before sleeping, she sent the address to Zuo Ning, Yan Xiang, and a professional screenwriter she had a nodding based acquaintance with.
The location coordinates—Haicheng, Cloud Peak Hotel.
Yan Xiang was still happily thinking about finally getting an internship certificate and didn’t think much of it, while Zuo Ning felt a jolt in his heart upon seeing the address. A hotel? Who discusses investment projects at a hotel?
Cloud Peak Hotel was a top tier five-star hotel owned by the wealthy Xu family, combining accommodation, dining, and entertainment, with branches in multiple cities both domestically and internationally. It was rumoured that the most expensive room could cost up to a hundred thousand a night, offering a view of the entire Haicheng.
Zuo Ning had a girlfriend he dated during college, who was also the female lead in “Yin Fate.” They had completely broken up a few days ago, and he was now single, but…
Zuo Ning was torn between going and not going, tossing and turning until he finally fell asleep in a daze. The next day, his body was more honest than his spirit, waking up promptly at six to rush to the bathroom for a shower, then standing in front of the mirror carefully shaving off the stubble that had appeared.
His friend Ran Lingfeng watched Zuo Ning’s actions and suddenly realised, “Right, right, right, you have to clean yourself up to meet big project investors. Take me with you.”
Ran Lingfeng was not only Zuo Ning’s friend but also the male lead in the short drama “Yin Fate.” He had previously discussed the plot arrangement with Zuo Ning and was the only support Zuo Ning had before his death.
The two of them took two subway trips and finally arrived at Cloud Peak Hotel. Looking at the towering luxury hotel, both swallowed nervously and walked inside.
Zuo Ning didn’t have Xu Yao’s business card, only her verbal invitation, and he approached the beautiful receptionist with some unease, “Excuse me, Miss Xu Yao invited us here to discuss a project.”
The receptionist looked surprised at the two young men, immediately putting on a sweet smile and having them escorted to the VIP exclusive elevator. “Miss Xu Yao is waiting for you in the platinum suite on the seventieth floor.”
“Zuo Ning’s heart grew increasingly anxious, his palms sweating. They arrived at the only room on the seventieth floor, flanked by hotel bodyguards. Looking at the luxurious golden double doors, they lacked the courage to ring the doorbell, even thinking about turning around and running away.
Ran Lingfeng grabbed Zuo Ning and pressed the doorbell first, “Let’s go in and talk.”
The doorbell rang, and the door opened from the inside.
Before they could take in the luxurious suite, their eyes were drawn to two other young men inside. One was standing, leaning in to listen, while the other was half-kneeling around Xu Yao, like she was a queen.
Ran Lingfeng was shocked, “So many people?”
Xu Yao set down her wine glass and said, “The more, the merrier. Come in quickly.”
The more, the merrier? The two walked in awkwardly, standing stiffly at the farthest corner.
Xu Yao immediately introduced them, “This is professional screenwriter Little Zhang, and this is screenwriter Yan Xiang. I invited them to help polish and refine the script for your short drama.”
Zuo Ning and Ran Lingfeng instantly turned red, feeling like despicable little people who truly deserved to die.
They had thought Xu Yao was just having a moment of whimsy when she said she wanted to invest two months’ rent, but who knew she had even found a professional screenwriter to help.
They shook hands to get acquainted, and Zuo Ning took out the prepared project materials, smoothly signing the investment contract with Xu Yao, who became the largest investor in this short drama.
Xu Yao estimated that she should be the only investor; at this time, short dramas had not yet become popular in the world, and no investors would risk their funds on such a high-risk project with no prospects.
With the most say, Xu Yao succinctly stated, “I have only one requirement for this short drama—showcase Chinese horror to the extreme!”
In the original text, Zuo Ning was not a professional screenwriter; to please the audience, Western horror elements had even appeared in the plot, which felt quite awkward. Chinese horror, infused with folk elements, could scare the audience to screams with just a single set.”
Xu Yao looked around and said, “You all stay here and revise the script; I’m leaving now. If you get hungry, thirsty, or have other needs, just call the hotel butler.”
The four of them stood there in a daze, staring blankly at their surroundings, instinctively swallowing their saliva.
Let… let them stay here?
Yan Xiang had asked before coming; the platinum suite at Cloud Peak Hotel, while not as luxurious as the presidential suite, still cost 88,888 a night during the off-season…
Seeing Xu Yao planning to leave with Lu Ye, Zuo Ning hurriedly asked, “Miss Xu, aren’t you going to stay with us? No… I mean, aren’t you going to supervise us as we revise the script?”
Zuo Ning realized his words might have been ambiguous and quickly blushed, rephrasing his question. In Zuo Ning’s mind, since Xu Yao had booked such an expensive suite, she must be enjoying it herself and just casually bringing them along, but now she wanted to leave?
Xu Yao sighed, “I’m busy every day, and I have to go collect rent; I don’t have that much free time.”
She was either collecting rent or on her way to collect rent; it was really tiring.
Zuo Ning felt a bit confused. He had heard from Li Xiaoli last night that the rent for two buildings in the urban village had already been collected this month. Could it be…
Zuo Ning suddenly realised something, looking at Xu Yao in shock. Could this largest investor possibly… have several buildings in the urban village?!
Xu Yao left with Lu Ye and a few bodyguards but first had a brief meeting with the manager of Cloud Peak Hotel.
This Cloud Peak Hotel, located in Haicheng, was also secured by Xu Jing for her on the day she inherited the estate. However, Xu Yao didn’t want to manage the hotel, finding it too troublesome and preferring the simple joy of collecting rent. So, after deducting income from dining, other services, and various expenses, Xu Yao only needed to collect pure rent each month.
Thus, Xu Yao kept the presidential suite on the top floor for herself to stay in from time to time, leaving the platinum suite for them. After all, renting it out for a few fewer days just meant a little less rent, and these top suites weren’t always occupied by wealthy guests anyway; leaving them empty was just leaving them empty.
After Xu Yao left, the four of them stood in the platinum suite, looking at each other in disbelief for nearly five minutes before slowly coming to their senses.
“Wow, I can actually stay a night, oh no, a few days in the platinum suite of Cloud Peak Hotel in my lifetime! I’m going to call my grandma right now and ask if our ancestral grave is smoking green!”
Ran Lingfeng ran around the suite, pulling out his phone to take pictures and videos, unable to control his excitement.
The platinum suite had four rooms, each nearly a hundred square meters, with two living rooms of varying sizes, a private bar, a massage room, and more.
Yan Xiang followed, wandering around the platinum suite, shouting, “Wow, these windows are actually bulletproof!”
“Wow, I want this room; I love this bathtub!”
The four young men were like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden1, making all sorts of excited noises.
Zuo Ning secretly clicked his tongue; Xu Yao had arranged for them to stay for seven days, which accounted for nearly two-thirds of the investment funds. He felt like he had encountered a benefactor in his life, choking back tears as he clenched his fist and said, “I need to hurry and revise the script!”
It was the professional screenwriter, Little Zhang, who spoke up, “How about we order some breakfast first? Have you all eaten breakfast yet?”
Seeing the others shake their heads, Xiao Zhang awkwardly called the hotel restaurant. In less than ten minutes, a waiter pushed in a cart, placing a stack of exquisite breakfasts on the dining table, instantly boosting everyone’s appetite.
While eating, Yan Xiang asked, “Senior Sister said she would give me an internship certificate, so that’s why I came. How about you?” Now that he thought about it, Yan Xiang felt he should be ashamed.
The screenwriter Xiao Zhang replied shyly, “Miss Xu called me and said she would provide meals, accommodation, and a salary, so I came.”
Indeed, it was all-inclusive; they just hadn’t expected the conditions to be this good!
This might be the only chance in their lives to stay in such a nice hotel, right?
Ran Lingfeng asked the smiling 24-hour butler standing nearby, “Is this the best room in Cloud Peak Hotel?”
“No, the presidential suite on the 72nd floor is the best, but it’s reserved for Miss Xu and is not available for rent.”
The group instantly felt disoriented. It was always reserved for Xu Yao?
Then… didn’t that mean it was still charging rent even when it was unoccupied?
They calculated in their heads how much Xu Yao would be wasting if she didn’t stay there for a month, and they felt a wave of heartache for her.
While eating breakfast, they discussed the script for “Yin Fate.” Since it was a short drama script, it was only a few tens of thousands of words long, and wouldn’t even take an hour to finish reading
Even revising it wouldn’t actually take seven days; Yan Xiang even felt that in such an environment, his creative inspiration was bursting!
As soon as they finished breakfast, the four young men each grabbed a laptop and began revising the script in the living room, their efficiency surprisingly high.
On the basement level of Cloud Peak Hotel, there was an entire floor of an eight-meter-high library. They could arrange for the private butler to borrow any materials they needed.
Zuo Ning planned to finish revising the script in three days, and even so, there were various hours where they were free in the day’s 24 hours.
The very familiar Ran Lingfeng and screenwriter Little Zhang, after finishing their parts, went to play billiards in the billiard room, while a waiter stood by with a towel to wipe sweat.
Zuo Ning remembered that he had a short video account, where he had previously been using to document his filming progress in real-time with over a thousand fans. Out of boredom, he had the idea—why not film the platinum suite? His desire to share was stirring.
Only Yan Xiang sat upright in front of the computer, his fingers flying over the colourful mechanical keyboard, the sound of keys clicking rapidly, his typing speed astonishingly fast. The eyes behind his black-framed glasses sparkled with a strange light, and a smile lingered at the corners of his lips.
Seeing Yan Xiang so diligently typing, Zuo Ning felt an overwhelming sense of shame.
Clearly, he was the director and screenwriter of the short drama, yet he was already slacking off, while this youngest and still in his senior year talented junior was working hard. He really should be ashamed!
Zuo Ning quickly took his seat and began to revise the script, incorporating the folk elements that Xu Yao had mentioned.
*
pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
Meanwhile, Xu Yao was sitting on a soft sofa, one hand holding the list that Lu Ye had sent over, and the other hand gripping her phone, the screen displaying the WeChat contacts—new friends interface.
Since inheriting the estate, Lu Ye had communicated the news of the change of landlord to all the tenants, and most of them were quite nice. Upon receiving the news, they added Xu Yao on WeChat as per the rules.
Xu Yao was going through the WeChat requests one by one when she noticed that there were still a few people who hadn’t added her.
Top Quality Haicheng was the top luxury residential community in Haicheng, comparable to Haicheng Bay No. 1, housing many industry bigwigs and entertainment stars. Xu Yao was intrigued to see a name on the list: “Sheng Zhou.”
Confirming that this top star hadn’t added her yet, she took the initiative to send a WeChat request.
The landlord is collecting rent; adding people is nothing to be ashamed of, hehe.
According to the plot in the book, she had indeed had a crush on the top star Sheng Zhou before. She didn’t know how she had obtained Sheng Zhou’s WeChat ID, but after the scandal broke, he unilaterally deleted her.
At that moment, Sheng Zhou had just finished a magazine shoot and was planning to head home with his assistant to film a pilot episode for the upcoming variety show “My Home Life.” Sitting in the van back to Top Quality Haicheng, he noticed Xu Yao had added him, with the note “Landlord.”
Sheng Zhou found the peculiar reason somewhat amusing. Did “landlord” refer to him as the owner of her heart in a cheesy way? He also saw Xu Yao’s selfie avatar and felt a surge of irritation. Instead of accepting, he left a message: “Please don’t bother me anymore; I could never like you.”
After sending that message, Sheng Zhou decisively blocked Xu Yao on WeChat.
Xu Yao was very beautiful, even more stunning than Liu Yingxia. When Sheng Zhou learned that Xu Yao, an eighteen-line actress, had a crush on him, he secretly felt quite pleased. However, ever since the scandal affected his career, he was forced to break up with Liu Yingxia and had developed a strong dislike for this woman.
Since breaking up with Yingxia, Sheng Zhou had been in pain every day, even zoning out during filming and accidentally calling the female lead “Xiaxia,” earning a glare from the actress.
Xu Yao: “?” Is he insane?
Xu Yao looked up in shock and asked Lu Ye beside her, “Didn’t I note that I’m the landlord?”
Lu Ye: “…”
After a moment of silence, Lu Ye asked, “Should we contact him by phone?”
Xu Yao thought for a moment and shook her head, “No rush; I’ll be collecting rent in a few days at Top Quality Haicheng. I’ll see what happens then.” She had so many tenants!
Xu Yao twisted her slightly sore neck, reflecting on how hard it was to collect rent, wishing for a moment of joy.
Just as Lu Ye was about to ask Xu Yao if she wanted to arrange for a masseuse, Xu Yao’s phone vibrated. She opened WeChat to see it was Yan Xiang, the talented junior from the Chinese department.
He had sent a document about ten thousand words long, and Xu Yao was somewhat surprised.
It had only been a day, and their efficiency in revising the script had already produced ten thousand words?
Xu Yao immediately felt that leaving the platinum suite at Cloud Peak Hotel for them was indeed the right choice; providing the best conditions led to the highest efficiency. She quickly set aside the rent collection list and opened the document.
The female lead in “Yin Fate” was named Xiu Xiu. However, when she clicked in, she found that the female lead was not “Xiu Xiu,” but “Xu Yao”!
Xu Yao silently stared at the joyful opening of the novel. In just ten thousand words, the wealthy landlord “Xu Yao” had met the entertainment industry’s film emperor, a domineering elite CEO, a pure university campus heartthrob, and a sharp-tongued yet exceptionally handsome top doctor.
Xu Yao: “…”
It must be said that the writing of the talented junior from the Chinese department was indeed excellent. The word choices and descriptions resonated deeply with Xu Yao, making her unable to help but smile. The plot was indeed very enjoyable, but the content was all above the neck.
[Yan Xiang: Senior sister, what do you think?]
Yan Xiang always felt a pang of guilt. He was living well, eating well, getting paid, and even needed to provide an internship certificate, yet all he did was revise the script? The script didn’t have many major issues, and minor changes were very easy to fix.
After thinking it over, Yan Xiang decided to use his strengths to thank his senior by personally crafting a joyful novel tailored for Xu Yao! Otherwise, he wouldn’t feel at ease taking this money.
[Yan Xiang: Senior sister, custom-made for you. Whatever plot you want, I can write it. Modern CEO, female supremacy, or even an alternate world where one becomes an emperor?]
Xu Yao: “…” He really knows how to write.
[Xu Yao: Luckily, you’re from Lijiang, not Potang2.]
[Yan Xiang: I can have a try.]
hehehe gonna try update this twice a week !! probably somewhere near the middle of the week wed/thurs so it doesn’t clash with my other series
- dream of the red chamber reference. refers to those that have never seen the world, country bumpkin, etc. ↩︎
- because lijiang is supposed to be a parallel to jinjiang which is where the author is hosting the novel, i’m assuming potang is a jab at another site for overworking/pushing for quick updates (?) not too sure with this one ↩︎